BYU Star Linebacker Jack Kelly 'Expected' to Play in Rivalry Game

BYU linebacker Jack Kelly and Faletau Satuala force a safety against Stanford | BYU Photo

BYU will get an integral part of its defense back for the rivalry game on Saturday, defensive coordinator Jay Hill announced on Wednesday. Star linebacker Jack Kelly is "expected" play after missing last week's game due to injury.

"We're expecting Jack to go," Hill said. "He's practiced really good the last two weeks. Especially this week, but he even practiced last week.

Kelly was labeled a game-time decision last week for the Arizona game after suffering a shoulder injury against West Virginia. However, Kelly did end up dressing for the game.

BYU's biggest weakness with Kelly out of the lineup was its pass rush. Kelly leads the Cougars in quarterback pressures and he was on pace for double-digit sacks prior to the injury. He has four sacks this season and no other BYU player has more than two.

Getting Kelly back will be critical for BYU's defensive success against Utah. Not only has he been BYU's best pass rusher, he has also been BYU's quarterback spy against mobile quarterbacks. You can almost guarantee that Kelly will be tasked with spying Devon Dampier in times during this game. BYU used a double spy against Colorado and that was the defensive adjustment that turned the game in BYU's favor. The other quarterback spy was fellow star linebacker Isaiah Glasker. It wouldn't be surprising to see BYU deploy a similar strategy against Dampier.

Hill also provided an injury update on Raider Damuni. Damuni left the Arizona game in the first quarter.

"Raider right now I'd say is doubtful just on how he continues to progress."

In Damuni's absence, BYU turned to co-starter Faletau Satuala. If Damuni can't go, Satuala will naturally slide into the strong safety spot. It's also a good opportunity to bring Tommy Prassas back over to the safety position. Prassas, who is a natural safety, was playing nickel while BYU was without Jonathan Kabeya. Kabeya was availalable to play against Arizona for the first time this season.

BYU will release the first official injury report for the Utah game on Wednesday night. Other injury updates to watch will be for defensive tackle Anisi Purcell and the aforementioned Tommy Prassas.